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(No Model.) I I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. R. 0. SMITH. TRAGTION ENGINE.

No. 425,262. PatentedApr. 8, 1890.

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2 t e e h S S t e e h S 2 1 TG IN ME SN .0 1 0T M RR T MW 0 M O W No. 425,262. Patented Apr. 8, 1890.,

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UNITED STATES ATENT FFlQEQ RUDOLPH O. SMITH, OF YONKERS, N. Y-., ASSIGNOR TO THE OTIS BROTHERS do COMPANY, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

TRACTION-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 425,262, dated April 8, 1890.

Application filed November 2, 1888- Serial No. 289,828. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH O. SMITH, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Yonkers, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Traction-Engines, of which the following is the specification. My invention relates to improvements in traction and other engines by which the effective or tractive force and adhesion maybe changed and the speed proportionately diminished or increased, and, furthermore, new force added at will, when needed, by starting an auxiliary engine to help the principal one, the movements of the secondary engine being arrested when the same is not in working operation.

My improved engine is adapted for use in many positions and relations, but is illustrated in the drawings'in connection with a tram-car.

Figure 1 is an elevation showing the front part of a street-car in section in connection with a single-acting gas-engine embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a top view showing these parts in their relative position. Fig. 3 is a sectional end elevation on the line 1 1. Fig. 4 is a sectional end elevation on the line 2 2. r

. In that class of compound engines in which the piston-rods of the main and auxiliary cylinders are connected by a vibrating lever the piston of the auxiliary engine is always in motion whether said engine is performing any work or not, and the friction thus resulting is such in the case of agas engine that the amount of gas consumed when the main engine only is working is but little less than that required when both are in operation. To avoid this waste of power whenthe auxiliary engine is not actually working, whatever may be the motor-fluid, I connect the pistons of the main and auxiliary engines by a vibrating connecting-lever, but I shift the fulcrum of the latter so as to practically throw the auxiliary engine out of operation and arrest its motion whenever the main engine alone is to be relied upon for doing the work. I thus avoid the friction and waste from moving the auxiliary piston when that engine is not working and also secure the advantages of readily throwing the auxiliary engine into and out of action and of varying the stroke of the auxiliary piston.

Different devices may be used for changing the connections between the two pistons to effect the desired result. One form is illustrated in the drawings, in which the pistons 2 of the main engine A and auxiliary engine B have their piston-rods 3 connected with the opposite ends of a beam or level-2i. The upper end of the lever is coupled to the upper cross-head pin 32 and the lower end is coupled to the lower cross-head pin by-the link 25. The fulcrum-pin 26 is adjustable in any suitable manner, so that it may be carried from the position shown in Fig. 1 to a lower position practically in line with the piston-rod of the auxiliary engine. As shown, the fuloru1npin extends through a slot in the lever 26 and is carried by radius-bars 27 27, suspended by links 29 from a hand shifting-lever 30,

whereby the link and pin may be elevated and lowered, a notched bracket a retaining the lever in its different positions.

In starting, the main engine A only is operated and the pin 26 is lowered, so that the vpin 24. can vibrate without any movement of the secondary engine. After the requisite speed is attained the fulcrum-pin 2G is raised, when movement of the lower piston will be permitted, throwing the secondary engine into operation. By this arrangement it is practicable to greatly vary the power used. Thus if the main engine has a capacity of two horse-power and the secondary engine of six horse-power the engine, owing to the ability to throw the secondary engine wholly out of action, may be run at two horsepower or eight horsepower, as may be desired, and the secondary engine in no way detracts from the eifective force of the main engine when the latter only is running.

The engine as illustrated is a single-acting gas engine arranged in the well-known mannor, with proper provision for cooling, regulater for the admission of gas, fly-wheel, supply and exhaust valves, and ignitingdevices. I have shown a dynamo-igniter 31, the armature of which is driven by a friction-wheel lifted out.

running on the fly-wheel to generate the electricity to' use an electrical ignitor. All these details are well known and need no further description, as I do not claim them as my invention.

The upper cylinder 1, with its piston 2 and rod 3, cross-head 4, and connecting-rod 5, is on the same plane with and imparts motion to the crank-shaft 6, and this engine is running continuously as an ordinary stationary engine. A friction-clutch 7, when thrown in gear, fixes a pinion 8 to the crankshaft 6, and a friction-clutch 9 fixes another pinion 10 to this shaft 6. These pinions mesh, respectively, with spur-wheels 11 and 12, and with the friction-clutches in gear the motion will be transmitted from the crank-shaft to the axle. The spur-wheel 11 is loose on the axle, but the ratchet-wheel 13 is keyed to the axle, and as long as the axle does not rotate faster than the spur-wheel the pawl 14: of the spurwheel takes the ratchet-wlieel and the axle along; but as soon as the friction-clutch is thrown out of gear, and consequently pinion and spur-wheel stand still, the axle is still free to move ahead, since the pawl will be The spur-wheel 11 is provided with a rim 15 and sprockets. Achain 16connects this sprocket-wheel with a similar one and a ratchet-wheel on the other axle, and both axles are taken along by the pawls; but when the clutch is thrown out of gear the chain will stand still, but both axles will be a shifting connection between the axles the full adhesion of the wheels of both axles upon the track may be secured, or one pair may be thrown out of gear as drivers.

Suitable connections, as bellcranks 17 18 19 20 and 'rods 21 22, connect the frictionclutches to an operating device or a lever 23,.

I ing with cranks at right angles and with cylinders side by side cause the vehicle to vibrate. It will be seen that in my engine the power is transmitted to the crank-shaft, both from the main and secondary engines, in a engine.

The above described mechanisms furnish facilities to apply the following changes in the propulsion of loads and cars: First, slow motion, with the adhesion and attractive force of one pair of wheels only; second, slow motion, with full adhesion and proportionatelygreater tractive force; third, fast motion, with half-adhesion and diminished tractive force; and, fourth, finally, fast motion and the may occupy a position within the hollow seat- Without limiting myself to the precise con- 1 struction shown, I claim- 1. The combination, in a compound engine, of a main cylinder and piston and rod, secondary cylinder, piston, and rod, lever connected with both rods, and a shifting fulcrum for said lever, substantially as described.

2. The combinationjof the crank-shaft, main engine, with the piston connected with the crank-shaft in line therewith, secondary engine connected with the main engine by a lever-connection, and a shifting fulcrum for said lever, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the main and secondary engines, lever-connections between the two, crank-shaft connected and in line with the main engine, a shifting fulcrum for said lever movable to and from the plane of the piston-rod of the secondary engine, and devices for shifting said fulcrum, substantially as described.

4. The combination of a main and secondary engine,lever-connections between thetwo, shifting fulcrum for said lever and crankshaft, and a single connecting-rod between the latter and the engines, substantially as described.

5. A traction engine having a single-con necting-rod and its crank-shaft in line with 7. The combination of a main and second ary engine provided with means for throwing the secondary engine into and out of action, and an axle connected to be operated by the engines and a second axle, and shifting conneetions between the two axles, substantially as described. line on the plane of the piston-rod 0f the main crank-shaft connected by a single connectingrod'with said engines, two axles provided with chain-wheels and pawls and ratchets, a chain on said wheels, and a shifting clutchconnection between one axle and the crank shaft, substantially as described.

9. The combination of the two axles, ratch etwheels 11 and chain therein, afixed wheel 12 on one axle, a crank-shaft having loose pinions gearing with said wheels lland 12, and clutch-connections between the pinions and crank-shaft, and a, compound engine connected with the crank and provided with shifting devices for throwing the secondary engine into and out of operation, substantially as described.

10. The combination of the car, its wheels and axles, and central hollow seat-platform of the engine having two cylinders and a crank-shaft above one of the axles within the seat-platform and in line with the upper cyl- 1o inder, substantially as described.

RUDOLPH 0. SMITH. Witnesses:

WILLIAM MoLLoY, R. 0. SMITH, J 1. 

